Painting of the Day: “An Al-Fresco Toilette,” 1885-1897

An Al-Fresco Toilette
Samuel Luke Fildes
1885-1897
The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool

Liverpool-born artist Samuel Luke Fildes considered himself a member of the Neo-Venetian School of painters who excelled at depicting joyful scenes of everyday life and people. Fildes studied in Italy and did a number of sketches which he planned to transform into full-scale paintings. One idea that he had was to show a decaying Venetian palace as a backdrop for a scene of middle class girls romping about and worrying about their beauty. Fildes found humor in the fact that many of the once-great palazzos had become the homes of several lower-income families who were obsessed with looking wealthy when they weren’t really.


Fildes struggled with this painting for twelve years before he finally allowed it be sold. He was never fully satisfied with the final product which he altered repeatedly. The painting was purchased by art collector Arthur Anderson to hang in his palatial London townhouse. In 1913, it was sold to Lord Leverhulme who thought that the scene of grooming would be effective in advertisements for his line of soap. Though always a businessman first, Leverhulme did appreciate a good piece of art. Thanks to his interference, the painting is now permanently protected in Liverpool’s Lady Lever Art Gallery.